Kee and Berger Set Records In Win Over Oxy

CMS used the momentum built by Axelrood Pool records from Brett Berger and Michele Kee into team triumphs over Occidental on Saturday. The Stags won 235 to 53 and the Athenas secured a 203-93 victory.

For the second consecutive SCIAC contest, the Stags won all 16 events. Brett Berger narrowly missed a pool record in the 1000 yard freestyle two weeks ago, but was not to be denied this week. Berger posted a pool-record in the 1650-yard freestyle, smoothly pacing to a 16:31.46, more than three and a half seconds faster than the former mark.

Diver, James Stevick, also proved to be a star for the Stags, notching an impressive NCAA-qualifying score of 320.70 in the 3-meter competition, while also winning on the 1-meter board. Cameron Whiting was a double winner in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle races and Vincent Pai won the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke events. Seven additional Stags won individual events and CMS logged 1-2-3 finishes in both relay events.

Head Coach Charlie Griffiths commented, "One thing you have to love about the Stags is that they enjoy competing. Our seniors have set an assertive tone for the practice and meet environment and you can see it in the results. We had nearly a dozen personal records today, which is a nice in-season result, because we are a taper and championship-meet focused team."

The women's meet featured a pair of teams who entered the day 4-0 in the SCIAC. CMS fell behind Occidental by 2 points after the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, but quickly rallied by taking first and third in the 400 yard medley relay and then notched a 1-2-3 sweep in the mile. LillyBelle Deer was the distance ace, winning the 1650 and 500 yard freestyle races.

The jaw-dropping performance for the Athenas, though, came from 2011 SCIAC Swimmer-of-the Year, Michele Kee. Kee blistered the field in the 400 yard individual medley, touching at 4:32.68. Her time bested a 14-year old pool record by nearly four seconds, is an NCAA B-cut and ranks as the fifth-fastest performance in SCIAC history. Kee also won the 50 free and anchored the winning 400 medley relay. Five more individual Athenas, plus the CMS "A" 400 freestyle relay took top podium spots.

"Earlier this week, Michele put up a few fast practice performances that caught everyone's attention," said Coach Griffiths. "We put some pressure on Michele before the 400 IM and she responded with a beautiful race."

CMS is back in action on Saturday, January 28 at California Lutheran University. Diving begins at 10:30 a.m., with swimming slated to start at 11:00 a.m.